Back on Track

Oct. 16, 2000 -- Danny Dreyer was standing on a Northern California high school track, running in place. He pumped his legs straight up and down like pistons, pushing off from the track with his toes each time his foot landed. Scuff, scuff, scuff.

"Now watch this," he said, and he began to move very differently, leaning forward, lifting his legs from his hips, putting each foot down lightly. No pushing off with the toes. No scuffing.

He had me try both moves. "If you had to run in place for a couple of hours, which would you rather do?" he asked. No contest. The lighter, gentler way felt about 10 times better. But it also felt like cheating. It sure didn't involve the effort I usually put into jogging.

I'd come to Dreyer, a running coach with a new idea, because I sorely needed some help. I'd run most of my adult life, but lately my attempts just weren't working. On a recent evening jog, I couldn't believe how out of step I felt. With each footfall, I felt more plodding.

An aging baby boomer, I wasn't alone in my slowdown. Plenty of us are having an uphill struggle and experiencing more aches and pains than we used to. That fact has spurred a trend toward kinder, gentler running techniques, says Richard Cotton, a Salt Lake City exercise physiologist and spokesman for the American Council on Exercise. For instance, more people are now mixing walking with running, which is easier on middle-aged knees and backs.